Do we compare priests one with another? Spiritual leaders? Church Ministry heads? Group leaders? Why do we do so if we know that the Lord our God is over all and above all in charge? So what if say a wonderful parish priest or Spiritual director is replaced with one who is less than perfect or not as good by our standards. Can the Lord our God not fill the gaps? Perhaps the gaps were created for us as a means to grow in our faith by filling them by our very own needed actions in cooperation with His grace. As St Paul mentions in today’s reading ‘We are fellow workers with God; you are God’s farm, God’s building.’ Therefore our focus must always be on the Lord our God, by growing in our spirituality through deepening our relationship with Him as we strive to build His Kingdom through His grace.
In coming together to build His Kingdom even though our Lord already knows what we need we can and should ask Him whether for ourselves or for others; and He will surely help us so that we can do so fully in His love, peace and joy.
Lord grant me the courage to proclaim the Good News of Your Kingdom to all. Amen
First reading
1 Corinthians 3:1-9 ·
Neither the planter nor the waterer matters, only God, who makes things growBrothers, I myself was unable to speak to you as people of the Spirit: I treated you as sensual men, still infants in Christ. What I fed you with was milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it; and indeed, you are still not ready for it since you are still unspiritual. Isn’t that obvious from all the jealousy and wrangling that there is among you, from the way that you go on behaving like ordinary people? What could be more unspiritual than your slogans, ‘I am for Paul’ and ‘I am for Apollos’?
After all, what is Apollos and what is Paul? They are servants who brought the faith to you. Even the different ways in which they brought it were assigned to them by the Lord. I did the planting, Apollos did the watering, but God made things grow. Neither the planter nor the waterer matters: only God, who makes things grow. It is all one who does the planting and who does the watering, and each will duly be paid according to his share in the work. We are fellow workers with God; you are God’s farm, God’s building.
Gospel
Luke 4:38-44
He would not allow them to speak because they knew he was the ChristLeaving the synagogue, Jesus went to Simon’s house. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was suffering from a high fever and they asked him to do something for her. Leaning over her he rebuked the fever and it left her. And she immediately got up and began to wait on them.
At sunset all those who had friends suffering from diseases of one kind or another brought them to him, and laying his hands on each he cured them. Devils too came out of many people, howling, ‘You are the Son of God.’ But he rebuked them and would not allow them to speak because they knew that he was the Christ.
When daylight came he left the house and made his way to a lonely place. The crowds went to look for him, and when they had caught up with him they wanted to prevent him leaving them, but he answered, ‘I must proclaim the Good News of the kingdom of God to the other towns too, because that is what I was sent to do.’ And he continued his preaching in the synagogues of Judaea.
CatholicJules.net 